The superplastic forming (SPF) process has been of interest to automotive
manufacturers for several years because of two imperative goals. The first one
is the simplification of the manufacturing process for sheet-body panels and the
second reason is to follow government regulations to reduce vehicle mass, by
using aluminum. However, the high cost associated with superplastic materials
and slow production cycle times have limited the use of SPF to niche automobile
manufacturing operations. To overcome these limits, research on SPF
has been directed to forming at lower temperatures, at faster strain rates and
with lower cost materials. AA5083 superplastic materials hold great promise
for high-volume SPF production. However, several technical issues related to
the material are still not well understood. The present investigation characterizes
the mechanical and microstructural behavior of eight commercial 5083
materials. Conclusive evidence on the deformation mechanisms active in the
range of conditions typical for SPF operations, low rates and high temperatures,
but also at high-rate and low-temperature conditions, are presented.
Predictive equations, useful to establish a predictive basis for SPF forming, are
constructed. The issue of cavitation in superplastic materials, leading to poor
post-formed properties of the material and ductility variations, is treated. A
relation between cavitation, ductility and microstructural features is presented.
These results should be quite useful in the development of improved commercial
superplastic 5083 materials and for enhancing the capabilities of the SPF
process.

dc.format.medium

electronic

en

dc.language.iso

eng

en

dc.rights

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